I love the ease of having shorter hair, but I sorely miss the ability to wear updos -- especially during the summer, when all I want to do is keep my hair off my neck.

Luckily, my little sister Tessa is here for the week, and I can live vicariously through her. I've done a hair tutorial for a slightly more intricate version of this style before (the braided updo), but I wanted to show you the simplified version. I added the fascinator just for fun, but you can either leave the updo as is, or add some decorative clips.

Milkmaid braids look a lot more complicated than they are; they're actually one of the easiest summer hairstyles I can think of, next to a ponytail. I broke it down step by step, so keep reading after the cut for the full tutorial. Grab some bobby pins, a couple of tiny hair ties, and some hair spray.